Influence of the Tourism Business on the Facades of Townhouses in the Case of Hanoi′s Ancient Quarter

Abstract

The Hanoi ancient quarter is a district with 1,000 years of history, which has grown rapidly in recent years as an international tourism destination with its historical townscape as a tourism resource. Consequently, the business types have shifted toward tourism and with that town houses are being rebuilt and renovated, thereby changing the townscape. Surveys of changes to the townscape were conducted from 2003 through 2015 to grasp the actual conditions and causes of the changes, and to clarify the impact on the townscape. Among those, this paper analyzes data from 2003 and 2006 as the initial change, and reaches the following findings. 1) Not only is the tourism industry spreading, but also tourism shops are expanding to upper floors. 2) Rebuilding, renovation, and other changes with an impact on the townscape are taking place along with the shift of business type to the tourism industry. 3) Many of the rebuilding projects are for conversions into hotels.

Keywords

• vietnam
• historic district
• tourist business
• change